aftermath
by mindalme
Summary: tale of what happens after shelley leaves summer bay. rated for possible language in later chapters. review please!
1. Default Chapter

Aftermath  
  
  
  
Chapter 1.  
  
It was a hot Summers night. They had once enjoyed nights like these, but tonight was pure torture. Nights like this no longer meant swimming at the beach at sunset, or barbeques with family and friends. These nights were now just painful memories of things that had once been, and seemingly would never be again.  
  
On this painful night in December, the Sutherland family was once again sitting around their family home, wondering how, why, it had all happened, and happened so fast. It had been three weeks since Shelley had left, on what was supposed to be a happy occasion, and still there was no word. They wondered if all this pain would ever end.  
  
Dani was struggling to come to terms with her breaking up with Josh. As if breaking up the family wasn't bad enough, she had now lost her best firend. There was also the pressing fact that, as the eldest daughter, she was now, effectively, the mother of the family. How was she supposed to deal with that, as well as go to Uni, like she'd always dreamed? Why did this have to happen to her now?  
  
Then there was Kirsty. She was a mess. She was blaming herself for the entire incident, and no matter what any of her freinds said, she couldn't see the truth. If she hadn't of fallen in love with Dylan, none of this would ever have happened, in her opinion. But Kirsty was also blaming everything on what else had happened in the past year. Kane, drugs, dropping out of school, all of this had led to Shelley leaving, she believed. Nothing could persuade her otherwise.  
  
Jade, surprisingly, was a different story altogether. She was holding it together quite well. No-one was really sure how. Maybe it was her faith in God. Or maybe she beleived that things simply couldn't get any worse; they could only get better. After all, they say that when you hit rock bottom the only way you can go is up. Either way, she seemed to beleive that everything would work out okay.  
  
As for Max, well, it was hard to tell exactly what Max was thinking, as always. He seemed to be his usual cheerful self, getting into trouble, trying to come up with ways to get a bit of extra pocket money. But he was spending considerably more and more time with Colleen. This confused many people. Maybe he couldn't stand the tension at home, maybe he just liked hanging around with Colleen. Who knows?  
  
All in all, days at the Caravan Park seemed to drift by at around half the speed they used to. Everyone was too upset about what had happened to really care what was happening outside their own world. And so time went on, each person suffering in their own way, thinking they knew what was going on with the person beside them, but really having no idea. 


	2. chapter 2

Aftermath  
  
Chapter 2.  
  
*Dani's POV*  
  
The world has changed. People think it hasn't, but it has. Nothing is the way it used to be. I'm not the same person I used to be.  
  
I broke up with Josh a few weeks ago. He couldn't handle the way I was acting. But what was I supposed to do? My family was breaking up in front of my very eyes, was I supposed to just desert them and go with him because he wanted me to? I don't think so!  
  
Everything at home is strange at the moment. The house is so full of tension, I can't stand it. Dad's avoiding us as much as he can. He thinks all of this is his fault, and I must say, he's half-way there. I know that's horrible, but it's the truth. Why did he have to do it? If it wasn't for a mistake he made 17 years ago, everything would be normal here. But he did, and it isn't.  
  
Kirsty isn't helping things much. She also thinks everything is her fault, but it isn't. She's so depressed, I hate seeing her like this. All she does is cry, or sit around doing nothing. Not like the sister I had just a few weeks ago. She seems to have come off the worst in this little 'problem'. I wish I could do something for her, make her stop hurting. But how can I when I'm hurting as well? It's fine for me to comfort the twins and Max, but what about me? Who's going to look after me?  
  
It used to be Josh, and Mum. But now I don't have either of them. I wish Mum was here.  
  
Jadeis being annoying at the moment. She keeps saying that everything will be fine, don't worry, Mum will come back soon, and then we'll be a family again. I wish I had her optimism. I sometimes wonder if she really believes what she says. Probably, knowing her. It just gets so irritating! I just want to yell at her to shut up, tell her everything isn't fine, and it might never be again. But I can't. I'm supposed to look after her now. And if she wants to believe all of that stuff, I suppose she should be allowed to. Just like Max is allowed to roam around like everything is normal, nothing has happened.  
  
It must be hard on Max. He's already been abandoned by his own parent, now it's happened again. The funny thing is, he doesn't seem to worried about it. He's still getting into trouble every second day, still coming up with the most ridiculous ways to earn money, and still being the cheerful trouble maker he's been his whole life. The only thing that's changed with him is that now he's spending almost all of his waking moments with Colleen. I can't understand why, I can't handle 5 minutes with her. But they seem to get along. Maybe Max likes Colleen because he knows she won't be going anywhere. He has someone he can rely on, finally.  
  
I wish everything could go back to being the way it was. But I can't see how that will happen. I need to get away from here. Maybe I'll go to the city for a while, get away from everything. I've been meaning to catch up with my old friends for a while. Maybe I'll do it now. They might be able to help me get throught this. 


End file.
